


A Study Of Gender, Involving One(1) Edward Elric

by ToasterBath24



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alchemy, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author is trans, Gender Dysphoria, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Trans Edward Elric, Trans Male Character, no beta we die like hughes, written by a trans author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:00:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29990130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToasterBath24/pseuds/ToasterBath24
Summary: A short, 2-3 chapter fic and Edward Elrics gender.
Relationships: Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Edward Elric & Winry Rockbell
Kudos: 6





	A Study Of Gender, Involving One(1) Edward Elric

**Author's Note:**

> lol im trans

Edward Elric was not born with that name. He was born Mary Elric, in the small village of Resembool. 

And it was 8 years later that Mary became Edward, proud brother of Alphonse Elric, son of a dead mother and runaway father. 

Their mother was buried 6 feet in the ground when Ed cut his hair and told Winry and Pinako he was a boy. He was! Just because his body was different didn’t make him a girl. No, Ed refused to believe what some of the other townspeople said. He was a boy. His name was Edward Elric, goddammit! 

It took months of pissing off the teacher to get her to call Ed the right name. Al, Ed, and Winry would put glue on Ms. Robin’s desk, switch her lesson plans around, hide her things, and do other small acts of revenge whenever she called Ed the wrong name. 

At least, until she yelled, “Alright! I get it. Your name is Edward from now on. Jeez, just stop messing with my stuff.” 

That day, the trio cheered all the way home. 

  
  


\----------------------------------------------------------

Izumi Curtis was the woman they sought out to teach them. Her training was intense, crazy, and dangerous but it made them strong. It taught them the value of equivalent exchange.

When Ed explained to her that his body was wrong in so many ways, she understood. She accepted. 

“When I get older and… my body… changes, can I change it? With alchemy?”

“I’m not sure,” Izumi answered. “But if anyone can find a way, it’ll be you and Al. Now, show me the alchemic circles you and Al practiced!” 

\----------------------------------------------------------

Al no longer had a body, and Ed’s was even more screwed up. 

They messed up. Big time. But the two brothers had a future and would do anything to keep walking towards it. So Edward Elric regained his lost limbs with automail and worked until he was spitting blood on the ground. What else could he do? Al needed him. He had to get Al’s body back. 

To do that, the almost 12-year-old would become a State Alchemist, not out of want but a desperate, raging need for knowledge. Knowledge, in which the world ran. Knowledge, because it was the only way to solve problems. Knowledge, because that’s all you needed to win.

\----------------------------------------------------------

The Fullmetal Alchemist was more than paranoid about his chest coming in. He was 13 when it finally did. 

Ed had been out on a mission with Al, investigating a lead one someone who could supposedly do ‘body alchemy’, whatever that meant. He was taking a shower in the dingy hotel bathroom, lights off to prevent any accidental glances of his lower half. However, the lights had to be turned back on after the blonde got out. 

Ed nearly screamed at the sight. His chest… was growing?!

“Al! I need you to see something!” 

Al came clunking over to open the door and squeaked out, “Brother! You look like you’re getting…  _ boobs _ ?” The last word was whispered in a hushed tone. 

“Okay. Okay. Okay. They’re not too big, I can just wear layers to hide them. Yeah. That's what teacher said to do, right? Yeah. Yeah! It’ll be fine,” Ed reasoned to himself. “Al, go get my tank-tops, please. I think I have two in my bag.”

The tank-tops were retrieved, and it was decided by the two brothers that layering was the way to go for now. 

After the brothers ate breakfast and bickered over how to approach the Body Alchemist, they set out to found him which was easy enough, considering the first person they asked told them where he lived.

“Oh, the Body Alchemist? Yeah, he lives just over the hill on the outskirts of town in a little shed. You’d be hardpressed to miss it.”

“Thanks, Mister!” yelled Al as he sped off after Ed who was already powerwalking there. Yes, his brother really powerwalked. 

********

The hill was covered in the kind of grass and weeds that grew up to your knees. Ed was currently cursing it out with all the creativity he could, and if Al could blush he would. Never let it be said that Edward Elric didn’t have the mouth of a sailor. 

It was only a short trek to the ramshackle shed that resided at the bottom of the hill. As they approached it, Ed called out, “Hello? Mr. Body Alchemist or whatever your name is? You there?” 

No answer.

Ed walked towards the shed first, signaling for his little brother to stay back. He knocked on the door, blonde hair swaying with the grass that seemed to cover the land. 

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“I’m the Fullmetal Alchemist, I’m here with my brother. We need to speak to you about something.”

There was the sound of multiple locks clicking, before the door creaked open to reveal a man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, maybe in his late twenties. The walls behind him were covered with drawings of the human body, both male, female, and… neither? Both? 

“Oh, come on in! I’ve heard about you quite a bit, y’know?” 

Well, that's a little creepy. Might as well go in.

*****

It took a while to explain what they were looking for, and in the end Liam, the Body Alchemist explained that, “I can change the bodies of the living. Not that you’re not alive Al, but I don’t have your body.”

Damn! Not another false lead. As they started to leave after thanking Liam for his time, Al exclaimed, “Wait! Could you stop a body from growing?”

Liam paused. “I mean… I could? Not sure why you’d want me to do that though. Your brother is already short enough.”

“Hey!! Who’re you calling so short he’d have to use a flea as a car?!?!”

Laughter rang throughout the grass as Ed fumed. But he had caught on to what Al was asking about. He could ask Liam to do something about his chest. 

“Could you stop the development of breasts? Permanently?”

Liam seemed confused. “Probably. But why do you ask?”

Taking a deep breath, Ed decided it was best to explain it all in a rush. No time for disgust. 

“I’m a boy but I was born a girl so I’m gonna have boobs but I’m a fucking guy and I don’t want them so can you stop them from growing? I can pay.Lots.”

A moment of silence.

“Well… okay. I don’t feel comfortable doing this on some confused girl, but if you can pay me I might as well get the money.”

Edward’s blood boiled. He was a boy, dammit! But if Liam could stop his chest from growing, he had to play nice. The man explained how this would work, without actually explaining his alchemy. That was to be expected, of course, you had to protect the research of your trade. But it was the infuriatingly patronizing way he explained it like Ed was some dainty little girl who had no clue how the world worked. 

He was a fucking state alchemist! He had met truth once and would live to punch him in the face! 

So the blonde teen wrote out a check that would be enough to placate Liam into stopping his chest from growing. 

“Alright,” Liam gestured to the table he had cleared off. “Take off your shirt, and lay down on the table. I’ll have to draw two arrays, and then your chest won’t grow. All growing already done with be reversed. After I do this, you’ll most likely pass out from exhaustion.”

Ed nodded, and Al watched silently from the corner as his brother got halfway undressed and looked beyond uncomfortable. 

Instead of drawing with chalk, the Body Alchemist had a black, paint-like substance that he drew on with a brush. Ed closed his eyes, and wait for Liam’s hands to come down and activate the arrays. With a crackle and a flash, Edward Elric was out cold. 

His chest was flat. 

\----------------------------------------------------------

14 years old, and feeling worse than ever, Ed called home. 

The quiet sound of ringing filled the dorm rooms he and Al shared. The latter was out looking for cats, and Ed was sitting on his bed, curled up on his side. 

“Hello, this is Rockbell Automail, how may I help?”

“Winry,” Ed croaked out. “I’m a boy right?” 

He could hear a sharp breath being sucked in. “Yes, Ed. You’re a boy. A guy. Male. A man.”

A sob ripped its way out of his throat as he shook on the bed, heaving air in and out.

Winry continued to whisper reassurances through the phone until he calmed down and was breathing normally.

“What brought this on?” asked Winry.

Ed breathed in and said, “I’m so…  _ short _ and my hair’s too long. Someone actually called me Miss in a store today.  _ Miss _ . And I know my hair’s getting long but I don't want to cut it all off. I can’t grow either. I’m just. Stuck.”

This was the first time Winry had actually heard Ed admit he was short and honestly, it shocked her more than anything. 

“Ed,” Winry started, “have you considered just trimming your hair by taking a few inches off? That way it wouldn’t be so long.”

He snorted through the phone. “Jeez, Winry, I’m an idiot. You’re right. I’ll ask Al to chop off a few inches tonight. And… thank you. You’re the best.”

\----------------------------------------------------------

Blood. Oh god, it was blood.

Ed may not believe in any god but if there was one out there, they must have really liked screwing him over. 

Okay.  _ Okay _ . Don’t panic. He had had this talk long ago and done plenty of his own research. The problem was that he was sharing a room in some crummy in with Lieutenant Hawkeye and would have no chance to go shopping for tampons. Which meant he could transmute toilet paper to make tampons, but that would use up a very noticeable amount of toilet paper just to make a couple. 

Would the Lieutenant understand? 

“Edward, are you almost done in there? We have to get going soon.”

Alright. Here goes nothing.

He opened the door. 

“We need to talk,” announced Ed. He sat down on one of the twin beds in the room and motioned for Lieutenant Hawkeye to do the same. Once she was sitting, he took a deep breath and tried to speak but no words came. Silence was the only sound in their small, dusty room.

Hawkeye looked over at him concerned. What was up with him? Ed wasn’t the kind of guy to freeze but he was more nervous than he had been in a while.

“Whatever it is, try and just get it out. Better to get it all out at once.”

Here goes nothing. “This is going to sound very strange but I was born in a girl’s body- And I’m not a girl! But I still have that dumb female body instead of a male one so I have female issues. Namely, periods. Which I got. This morning. I’m still very much male though!”

For a moment neither of them said anything until the lieutenant looked him in the eyes and said, “Okay. That's not too bad. The way you were carrying on, I thought someone had died.” She paused and smiled. “I can give you some of my tampons, and when we get back from the mission I can take you shopping. I don’t carry pads though so you’re out of luck in that department.”

Ed slumped back, over relief flowing through his body. Things would be okay. 

Lieutenant Hawkeye stood up and walked into the bathroom, coming out with 6 or 7 tampons in her hand. 

“This should last you today and tomorrow, and then the mission will be over. Do you know how to use them?” she asked as she handed over the menstrual products. 

Ed accepted them and shoved all but two in his bag. He nodded that yes, he did, and walked back into the bathroom. 

**************

The mission was over, the two blondes stood at the train station. As the train’s thundering noise came towards them, Ed turned toward Riza and hugged her. She stiffened, but before Ed could back out of hugging her, she hugged him back. His head was pressed into her warm shoulder, and for a second it felt like his mother’s hug. 

The train came to a stop. Hawkeye let go so that they could board, and her ears just barely picked up a thank you aimed in her direction.

**Author's Note:**

> giveee meee commentsss


End file.
